Day 231/18. A beautiful garden visitor.

A female Southern Hawker dragonfly visited our garden pond this afternoon to lay some eggs. Here she is ovipositing into some moss at the base of the small fountain we have.
Probably around 75mm from nose to tail Hawkers are aggressive dragonflies ruling the insect air, including catching butterflies on the wing. Common in England and Wales, sparse in Scotland and, interestingly, apart from a single sighting, have never been seen in Ireland.